11:00 AM,
Jul. 12, 2014

Act: In passing the STOCK Act, Congress ensured that insider trading laws applied to its members and staff. Getty Images

Written by

Tom Spulak

In passing the STOCK Act, Congress ensured that insider trading laws applied to its members and staff. Recent reports about the House opposing efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, to obtain information about whether alleged insider trading involved a staff member have raised concerns about whether Congress was serious when it passed the law.

Contrary to what some may suggest, the House is not protecting its own from investigation or prosecution.

The House's opposition to the SEC subpoenas is based on a time-honored constitutional principle known as the "Speech or ...